New owner of Goodwill property seeks tenants

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Removal of failing eucalyptus trees resulted in piles of wood chips, since removed, outside the former Goodwill headquarters, which has been purchased by a group of investors. Goodwill’s Career Center for job hunters remains open at 350 Encinal St., Santa Cruz. (Jondi Gumz -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Several eucalyptus trees were removed adjacent to the parking lot of 350 Encinal St., for many years owned by Goodwill Central Coast. City arborist Leslie Keedy, who granted the removal permit, said several limbs had fallen over the winter and spring, prompting the removal of the trees in poorest condition. (Jondi Gumz -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)

”Our services have not changed,” said Anne Guthrie, Goodwill’s vice president of workforce development services. “We operate the Career Center in partnership with Workforce Santa Cruz County.”

Cury said a group of local investors purchased the property and plans to fix it up and lease it. The new owners are “dealing with deferred maintenance” and must meet all the current codes, including access to the handicapped. The buildings date to the 1960s.

The property, which is zoned industrial, was sold in June for $4.865 million, according to the Santa Cruz County Assessor’s website.

Their goal: Hire U.S. military veterans who have been homeless to assemble, pack and ship LEDs for Thrive Energy, another business run by McClellan.

About five veterans have been hired so far, according to Dean Kaufman, veterans advocate at the Santa Cruz County Veterans Service Center, who has been working with Bright Vision. Kaufman said Wednesday that veterans looking for work will find resources at that office, at 842 Front St.

“We will be hiring more later this year,” said McClellan.

JOB MARKET

As of Sept. 12, when retailers started seasonal hiring, there were 112,700 jobs in Santa Cruz County, up from 111,200 a year ago, and more people commuting outside the county, cutting the unemployment rate to 4.7 percent from 5.2 percent a year ago.

The state reported 1,200 jobs lost in leisure and hospitality, a seasonal phenomenon, but higher-paying jobs in construction and manufacturing remained steady.